We support good work in Yellowstone County.
Our grant programs provide essential aid to local non-profits whose work serves people under our impact areas: Building Futures, Community Resiliency, and Non-Profit Empowerment. We use community input to identify worthy recipients, avoid duplicative efforts, and to target effective, sustainable initiatives.
In 2025, we awarded funds to 8 different non-profits through our Community Investment Grants. We rolled out a new 3-year model, aiming to provide more sustainable funding for granted nonprofits and empower them to make a deeper impact in our community.
Our 2025-28 Community Investment Grant recipients
YWCA Billings: Providing Life Saving Support Services to Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Human Trafficking
YWCA Billings will provide trauma-informed, victim centered services including shelter, case management, legal advocacy, and housing assistance to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking.
Veterans Navigation Network: Building Community Resiliency among service members, veterans, and their families in Yellowstone County.
VNN will implement proactive strategies to prevent significant crises in the lives of up to 250 veteran service members and their families in our county, annually. This crisis prevention will include outreach, assessment, case management, peer mentorship, and connection to community resources, as well as follow up for improved outcomes.
Love and SONshine Ministries: Building Resiliency Among Pregnant/Parenting Homeless Young Women
LASM will assist up to 180 individuals (including pregnant women and their dependent children) over the next three years. LASM will provide critical services, including housing assistance and connections to community resources that will help lift them out of poverty and stabilize their current situations that require immediate intervention. LASM’s focus is on women aged 16-24 who are homeless, pregnant, or parenting young children.
Family Promise of Yellowstone Valley: Wrap Around and Break the Cycle of Poverty Program
FPYV will help families with children overcome poverty by identifying barriers and creating intensive case management plans with each family unit to reach independence and sustainability. FPYV uses the power of community in its Rotational Model for hospitality and shelter for the families entering into our Emergency Shelter program and our Self Sufficiency Matrix covering: Housing, employment, income, food, childcare, adult education, healthcare coverage, mobility, clothing, community involvement, parenting skills, access to services, life skills, financial matters, legal issues, family/social relations, mental health, physical health, substance abuse, functional ability, career resilience/training, English language skills, setting goals & resourcefulness, codependency, safety and current feelings. By addressing each family individually with this model FPYV has seen over a 90% long term success rate with the families we work with obtaining long term independence.
CASA of Yellowstone County: Championing Hope for Children in Foster Care
CASA of Yellowstone County will expand services 133 new children in foster care annually by supporting the Program Manager position. This role focuses on four priority areas: children from homes of domestic violence, large sibling groups, Native American children, and older youth in foster care.
Allies in Aging (formerly Adult Resource Alliance of Yellowstone County): Aging with Grace and Support
Allies in Aging will expand its intensive Case Management Services to address housing instability among elderly populations in Yellowstone County. This expansion will provide comprehensive support to seniors at risk of homelessness, enhancing their ability to age in place with dignity and security while addressing the growing crisis of housing instability among older adults.
Friends of the Children - Eastern MT: Investing in Billings’ Youth: Violent Crime and Gang Prevention Through Relationship-Based Mentoring
Friends of the Children – Eastern MT will hire two additional staff members, allowing it to add a third cohort and increase the total number of youth served to 48, up from two cohorts that serve 16 children each. When including caregivers and family members, this expansion would reach over 300 individuals, amplifying the community impact.
Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools: Mobile Food Program
The Education Foundation's Mobile Food Program (Munch Machine) will serve more kids, providing a vital lifeline for food-insecure children and ensuring they receive the nutrition they need when school meals and other community resources are unavailable. Last year the mobile food program served 275 kids each week with a waiting list of children that the program was unable to serve. Increased funding will be used to expand the program and serve more children in the community.